One of the founders of Tatar Renaissance literature of the early XX century. Printed under the names and aliases of the Gayaz, the Gayaz Iskhakov, Kazanli Gayaz Iskhaki, Idelbi, Bekbulat, Bigtimer, Bicture corners, Boilers Mohammed, timer, Orally, Habiburahman al-Bulgari, CANDILLE, rude, Genghis, Japani etc.
Education
Son of a Mullah. Until the age of 12, he studied with his father in his native village, in 1890-1893-in the madrasa of the famous religious figure Zakir Kamalov in the city of Chistopol, in 1893-1897-in the madrasa “Kasimiya” in Kazan.
In 1898-1902 he studied at the Kazan Tatar teacher’s school, showed great interest in the achievements of Russian and Western European socio-political culture, was interested in the works of I. S. Turgenev, I. A. Goncharov, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, M. Gorky; translated into Tatar the stories of A. S. Pushkin “the captain’s daughter” (1899), N. V. Gogol “old world landowners” (1902).
Social and political activities
In 1901, on his initiative, an illegal society “Shakirdlik” was created, printed on the hectograph of the newspaper “Tarakki”.
In the autumn of 1902, he taught at the khusainiya madrasa in Orenburg. In the summer of 1903, he returned to Kazan to attend University, but at the insistence of his parents, he left for his native village, where he served as a Mullah.
In 1904, he returned to Kazan, and from that time he devoted himself entirely to social, political, and literary activities.
In 1905-1907 G. G. ishaki took an active part in the national movement, organized a secret society shekinskogo “Berek”; was the leader of an illegal political organizations of Tatar youth in Kazan “Harriet” organization of the Tatar socialist “Tankisty”; I imagine the young Tatar radicals in the party Congress of the Russian Muslims “ittifaq al-muslimin”; was the actual editor of the newspaper “tan of Yulduz”, “Tavish”, “tan majmuasi”.
For his revolutionary activities and anti-government actions, he was arrested 18 times, imprisoned in the cities of Chistopol, Kazan, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg, and was exiled in the Arkhangelsk province.
In 1909-1911, while in exile, twice secretly visited Turkey, where he was engaged in literary work, collaborated in the Turkish publications “Sirat al-mustakim” (“the Right way”), “Turk darnagi dargisi”(“Journal of the Turkish society”).
According to the Amnesty announced in honor of the 300th anniversary Of the house of Romanov, on April 3, 1913, he was released (with a ban to live in Kazan). Lived in Moscow, St. Petersburg; published the newspaper “Il”.
G. G. Iskhaki welcomed the February revolution of 1917 and approved the national policy of the Provisional government.
At the I all-Russian Muslim Congress, he put forward the idea of national-cultural autonomy for Turko-Tatars of Volga and Ural regions – the creation of the Ural-Volga State (Idel-Ural state), which was supported at the II all-Russian Muslim Congress in Kazan (1917) and Millet Majlisi in Ufa (1917-1918).
Was elected a member of the all-Russian Muslim Council (Milli Shura).
G. G. Iskhaki did not accept Soviet power. Persecuted by the Bolsheviks, he ended up in Siberia (the city of Petropavlovsk), took part in the publication of the newspaper “Mayak” (1918-1919).
In exile
From March 1920 to the summer of 1922, ishaki lived in Paris, then in Berlin. Since 1925 – in Turkey.
In Istanbul, he actively collaborated with the magazine” Turk Yurdu “and the newspaper”Jumhuriyat”. However, the Turkish authorities, under pressure from Soviet diplomacy for articles promoting the idea of creating a national state of Tatars and Bashkirs and uniting the Turkic peoples, forced G. G. Iskhaki to leave the country.
At the invitation of Prime Minister Yu.Pilsudski, with whom he was familiar from exile in the Arkhangelsk province, moved to Poland in 1927, where he founded the “Idel-Ural Committee”, taught Turkish lessons at the Eastern faculty of the University of Warsaw.
In December 1931-early 1932, G. G. ishaki participated in the world Congress of Muslims in Jerusalem, made a report on the persecution of Islam in Soviet Russia, the closure of mosques, and the persecution of clerics. He addressed the heads of state of the Arab East – Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, as well as the Sultan of Morocco and the Pope.
In 1933-1936, G. G. Iskhaki made a trip to the countries of the Far East, carried out various activities to unite the Turkic-Tatars who lived in China, Manchuria, Japan, and Korea, and convened the Mukden Congress, which formed the “national religious Committee Idel-Ural of the Turkic-Tatar Muslims of the Far East”.
In 1936, G. G. ishaki returned to Warsaw. in 1939, after the capture of Poland by Nazi Germany, he moved to Turkey and remained there for the rest of his life.
During the years of emigration, G. G. Iskhaki was the publisher and editor of the magazines “Milli Yul” (December 1928-1930), “Yanga Milli Yul” (Berlin, Warsaw, 1930-1939), and the newspaper “Milli Bayrak” (Mukden, 1935-1945), which defended the ideas of uniting Tatars to fight for the return of their statehood and the achievement of national freedom.
Creation
The beginning of the creative path of G. G. Iskhaki was at the turn of the XIX-XX century, when Tatar literature entered the Renaissance (see Yanarysh).
In the development of creative activity of G. Iskhaki, we can conditionally distinguish 4 periods:
educational (1897-1904);
“tangistsky” – passion for revolutionary ideas (1905-1910);
priority of the national idea as the highest universal value (1911-1918);
emigrant-defending the ideology of the revival of the national statehood of the Tatars (1919-1954).
Early artistic experiences and translations from Turkish to Tatar (story “арarrah Baba») lost.
Educational period of creativity
In the initial period of G. G. ishaki’s work, he acted as a novelist, playwright, and publicist.
The main motif of his works is the antinomy “knowledge–ignorance”widely presented in medieval Muslim literature. He believed that the primary basis of human education, socio-economic and spiritual progress of society are Reason, Knowledge, and the Word.
The first published work of G. G. Iskhaki is a didactic story ” Tagallemda-sagadet “(“Happiness is in knowledge”, 1897), in which the author showed the triumph of knowledge, which led the hero – a student of the jadidist madrasa (see Jadidism) to serve the nation, well – being in his personal life.
In terms of problems, this story is closely related to the story “Bai ugli” (“Bay son”, 1897; published in 1903). its main character Karim, by the decision of ignorant parents, leaves school in a new-fangled madrasa, finds himself under the bad influence of a “teacher” assigned to him – a teenager Fakhri; grows up a spoiled, dissolute young man, commits a number of crimes and dies in a fight.
The Central place in G. G. ishaki’s educational prose and drama is occupied by the problem of feminism, which is revealed by Him in various angles and a variety of motives.
In the story “Kalapushche Kyz” (“skullcap Girl”, 1900), which brought the author fame, the heroine kamar appears as a victim of a mercenary old woman-pimp Zukhra and a clerk-libertine Vafa.
In the play “Och Khatyn Belan tormysh” (“Life with three wives”, 1900), G. G. Iskhaki opposes polygamy and defends the equality of women in the family.
The rigid feudal-Patriarchal and class traditions, family despotism are criticized by him in the play “IKE gashyk”(“Two lovers”, 1903), written under the influence of French and Turkish drama.
A special place among the works of G. G. Iskhaki devoted to this subject is occupied by the romantic story ” Ochrashu, yaki Golgyzar “(“Meeting, or Gulgizar”, 1903), which compares the concepts of love, marriage, and family adopted by Muslims and in European culture. The heroes of the story Gulgizar and Gabdulla talk about the materialism of the West, idealism and spirituality of the East, Koranic concepts of predestination and freedom of human will, talk about the theory of natural selection.Darwin, on intuitionism and the philosophy of life by A. Bergson.
The educational dystopia “IKE yoz Eldan son inkyraz” (“Disappearance in two hundred years”, 1904), which was an event not only in the work of G. G. Iskhaki, but also in the social and literary life of the Tatars of the early twentieth century, tells about the ancestors of modern Tatars – Bulgars, who passed the heyday of the great civilization in the X–XIII centuries, in the XIX–XX centuries experienced an economic and spiritual decline (moral promiscuity, the spread of infectious diseases). diseases), at the end of the XXI century disappeared as a people from the historical arena.
Russian Russians are interpreted as the result of social stagnation caused by the activities of the “class of priests” – kadimists (see Kadimism), hostile to national progress, opponents of science, education, the introduction of Tatars to European and Russian culture, and the training of Tatar youth in Russian educational institutions.
Many plot elements of this work, social ideals, literary and aesthetic thoughts contained in it, were developed and artistically reworked in the works of G. Tukay, F. Amirkhan, G. Ibragimov, S. rameyev, G. Kamal, N. Dumavi, F. Tuikin, etc.
“Turistskij” period of creativity
The leading motif of the “tangist” period of G. G. ishaki’s work, which was strongly influenced by Marxist aesthetics, was the motto: “Only in struggle can you find happiness.”
Real facts from life in Chistopol prison, transmitted in the form of autobiographical and journalistic notes, are reflected in the story “Zindan” (“Prison”, 1907).
Based on social ideas, the feminist views of Galia, who overcame Patriarchal class prejudices and ran away from the home of rich parents to her lover, are shown by G. G. ishaki in the drama “Aldym-birdem” (“Marriage contract”, 1907), translated by the author into Russian and published on the initiative of M. Gorky in the magazine “Testaments” (1914, No. 6).
In 1910-1923, G. G. Iskhaki conducted an active correspondence with the Russian proletarian writer. Thus, referring to the literary activity of G. G. Iskhaki, in one of the letters M. Gorky wrote: Russian Russians and Tatars would be well served by a Tatar who would undertake to trace the influence of the neighborhood of Tatars on the Russian people in their ideas of life.”
The drama “tartyshu” (“struggle”, 1908), which became one of the most striking examples of Tatar proletarian literature, describes the performances of social Democrats, “tangists” – social revolutionaries and Narodnik youth against the autocracy. The actors in the dialogue-reflections discuss the meaning of the concepts “Tatar revolution” and “Russian revolution”. By the first they mean the desire of Tatar enlighteners and jadidists to Europeanize the social and spiritual life of the Tatars of the second half of the NINETEENTH and early twentieth centuries, by the second – the joint struggle of Tatars and Russians in 1905-1907. for freedom, social rights, against autocracy and bureaucracy.
Strong influence of Narodnik ideas is shown in the dramas “Mogallim” (“Teacher”, 1908) and “Mogallim” (“teacher”, 1913). Their main characters Salih and Fatyma believe that marriage is an obstacle to the fulfillment of public duty to the nation and give up love and family, devoting themselves to serving high ideals: increasing social and political activity and cultural level of the people.
G. G. ishaki is also known as the author of comedies on anticlerical themes. Scholastic thinking and religious conservatism staromodnaya mull was ridiculed by them in the comedies “Moguai” (“Company”, 1909) and “Kuyt” (“Doomsday”, 1909).
Wide panorama of the Tatar public and spiritual life of the early twentieth century is represented in the novels of G. ishaki “Termism Boo?” (“Life it?”, 1911), “Mullah-woman” (1910, incomplete, published in 1913), “Telne kyzy” (“the Beggar”, books 1-3, 1906-1914 gg.).
“Beggar woman “is the first novel in the history of Tatar literature, created in the line of critical realism (written under the influence of the novel” Resurrection ” by Leo Tolstoy). It reflects the social contradictions of Tatar society, the problem of emancipation of women, the solution of which the author considers one of the most important conditions for the socio-cultural revival of the nation.
In contrast to the earlier works, G. G. ishaki polemizes here with Tolstoy’s concept of non-resistance to evil by violence, and calls on women to decide their own fate. Following this idea, the main character Sagadat finds the strength to break with the bleak past, leaves the house of her rich husband Gabdulla, goes to study in St. Petersburg, and prepares herself for a Narodnik mission.
The ideas of Narodism found a vivid expression in the autobiographical image of Mansur, who played a major role in the moral insight of Gabdulla and the spiritual resurrection of Sagadat. Following M. Gorky, G. G. ishaki in this novel turns to naturalistic, photographic everyday life, creates a collective portrait of the people of the “bottom”. The inner world of the characters is revealed through dreams, symbolic images, monologues, comparisons with natural phenomena.
The psychological novel “is this Life?” is written in the form of a diary of a madrasa student. G. G. Iskhaki interprets the state of Tatar society as a transition from the influence of the Muslim East to the culture of the West. He shows this by the example of the spiritual quest of the main character-the son of a Mullah, who first mastered Islamic Sciences, then joined the Russian and European culture, dreamed of becoming a reformer-Islamist, devote himself to the service of the people. But, being unable to overcome the circumstances of life, he becomes an ordinary village Mullah. The author shows the painful reflection of the hero who has lost the meaning of life and asks himself the question: “is this Life?”.
The unfinished novel “Mulla Babai” depicts with realistic skill and deep psychology a wide panorama of people’s life, the system of education in Tatar kadimist and jadidist madrasas, various types of priests and teachers of madrasas.
The main character of the novel, the authoritative Imam-theologian Halim, acts as the embodiment of folk wisdom and universal values.
In 1910-1911 the writer has created a series of psychological short stories – “the Name shade” (“Family happiness”), “gayly Tatar” (“Tartar mind”), “Mars imeche” (“the fruits of the madrassas”), “Kalgin bitch” (“Welcome bride”), “Skirt abyy” (“Shakira-abyy”), which became a vivid example of the images of the unconscious spheres of the psyche, neurotic States, erotic descriptions of love.
National values in the works Of G. Iskhaki
In the 1910s, G. G. Iskhaki’s socio-political views and artistic thinking underwent significant changes. From the ideas of revolution and class struggle, he moved to national positions, directed his efforts to unite the various strata of Tatar society and the growth of national consciousness, as he considered it an important means of progress and mastering the achievements of world civilization.
The theme of national unity also dominated numerous publicistic and artistic works of G. G. Iskhaki during these years, which made him one of the recognized leaders of the Tatar national liberation movement.
National problems in the context of the political history of Russia, cultural and civilizational, religious, family and marriage relations were at the center of many of his works.
A striking example of the reflection of national and ontological values was the story “Sunnatchi-Babai” (1911). Its main characters – the old man Kurbangali and his wife Gulyuzum – bearers of the best moral qualities of the Tatar people. Their long and happy married life is based on the continuity of the historical experience of many generations, the age-old Muslim traditions of the people. The landscapes, ethnographic details, subject world, features of the national character of the Tatar people (hard work, hospitality, cleanliness) are depicted artistically and reliably. The style of this story was significantly influenced by the narrative style of Nikolai Gogol (the story “old world landlords”).
The romantic tragedy “Zuleikha” (“Zuleikha”, 1912; published in 1918) shows the manifestations of the policy of forced Christianization and Russification of Tatar Muslims. Its characters are spiritually stable people who believe in the existence of divine justice and the realization of the ideals of freedom, goodness and humanity. Zuleikha defends his human dignity to the end.
In the story “ostazbik” (“the Mullah’s Wife”, 1915), the values of Muslim culture are brought to the fore: family, love for children, respect for a woman-mother, loyalty to the nation. Expressed with exceptional psychological depth, the writer’s humanistic ideas were embodied in the image of Sagida, before whose wisdom and highly moral actions her husband Vahid-Hazret worships.
In the stories “ul ale ikelan IDE” (“He still doubted”, 1914) and “Ul ale oylanmegan IDE” (“He was not married yet”, 1916), G. G. ishaki raised the topic of interethnic marriages. His characters try to go beyond the national mentality and religious attitudes. The author shows different views on love and family, interprets them from universal positions, then from the positions of Christianity and Islam. Images of Russian women, as a rule, are idealized, surrounded by a romantic halo and are contrasted with images of Tatars, who were inferior to them in intellectual growth due to the stagnation of the environment in which they live.
Creativity in emigration
The main theme of publicistic and artistic works of G. G. Iskhaki, written during the years of emigration, is the theme of the historical tragedy experienced by the Tatar people as a result of colonial wars, revolutionary upheavals, violent Russification, the destruction of the national intelligentsia and clergy as enemies of the Soviet government (drama “Dulkyn echenda” – “Among the waves”, 1920).
The writer criticizes the national policy in tsarist Russia (the story “OIG Taba” – “Home”, 1922), calls on the Turkic peoples to unite, fight for national liberation and restore the lost statehood.
The dystopian fairy tale “Lokman Hakim” (“Sage Lukman”, 1923) contains a vision of the coming totalitarianism in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
In the psychological story “Koz” (“autumn”, 1923), created in the style of impressionism, G. G. Iskhaki shows how the Murz class perishes in the process of Russification.
Problems of Westernization and loss of national roots are the basis of his Comedy “Jean baevich” (1923). the Caricature, using farcical elements, image of the main character resembles the characters of Moliere’s comedies.
In the 1930s, G. G. Iskhaki made trips to the countries of the Near and Far East, and made articles about the national liberation movement. In a series of articles “Islam mlled” (“In the countries of Islam”, 1933), he, analyzing the state of Islam in Muslim countries, criticized the Bolshevik regime for the persecution of Muslims of Volga and Ural regions, claimed that Islam is a universal spiritual force contributing to the progress and consolidation of the Tatar nation, preserving the moral capacity of people.
On the resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) “on the state and measures to improve the mass-political and ideological work of the Tatar party organization” of August 9, 1944, which effectively prohibited Tatars to study their own history and literature, G. G. Iskhaki responded with the play “Ulug Muhammad” (1947), in which he depicted Ulug Muhammad as a ruler who sought to live in peace and friendship with the Russians, and debunked widespread ideas about the Golden Horde as a symbol of evil.
History of the Tatar liberation movement in the works Of G. Iskhaki
G. G. Iskhaki is the author of many works on the history of the liberation movement of the Turkic peoples. A special place among them is occupied by the work “Idel-Ural” (1927), dedicated to the problems of the national state structure of the Tatar people (up to the creation of their own sovereign state), published in Tatar, Russian, French (1933), Japanese (1934), English and Polish (1938).
The book details the history of material and spiritual culture of the Volga Bulgaria, Golden Horde, Kazan khanate, and given its characteristics; focuses on heavy colonial oppression, under which was the Tatar people after the fall of the Kazan khanate, its difficult struggle for the preservation of religion, language and mentality.
G. G. Iskhaki proves the possibility of reviving and creating an independent Tatar state – “Idel-Ural”, an idea that he theoretically put forward in 1917-1918 and reflected in many works written during the years of emigration (the story “Home”, the historical drama “Ulug Muhammad”, etc.).
G. G. Iskhaki emphasizes that Russia was and remains a “prison of peoples” under tsardom and under the Bolsheviks, and that all the socio-political cataclysms in it are the result of the unresolved most pressing issue – the national one. “The Russian revolution is not yet over,” he wrote. ” the Bolsheviks in this revolution are only one of its transitional stages. This revolution can only be completed by a radical resolution of the national question in the former Russia and the final liberation of the peoples fighting for their independence.”
G. ishaki-literary historian
he is also the author of works on journalism (“Gazitchelek eshend 25 El” – “25 years in journalism”, 1931), literary history and literary criticism. In the article and unpublished monograph “Shimal torek adebiyatyna ber Nazar” (“View of the literature of the Northern Turks”), the literary process is covered by him from the methodological positions of the cultural-historical school and the biographical method.
Most of the articles are devoted to the analysis of the ascetic activity of the Tatar enlighteners.Nasyri, sh. Marjani, I. Gasprinsky, R. Fakhretdin; works by F.Brown, S. Maksudi, G. Tukay, Derdmend, S. raleva, F. Amirkhan, G. Ibragimov, sh. Kamal, Kamal, G. Kulakhmetov, etc.
In many journalistic articles, G. G. Iskhaki criticizes the Bolshevik policy in the field of literature.
Some of G. G. Iskhaki’s works (“Marriage contract”, “Shakird-aby”, “Sunnatchi-Babay”, “Kalosha”) were published in Russian in 1913-1916.